Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Is this why you asked me to dinner?” I teased. “To spill the tea?”
“No. I could just get it from Theo if that’s what I wanted.”
“I didn’t know you guys were close like that.” I knew Axel was his brother and he cared for Scarlett like a sister, but I didn’t know they had these one-on-one conversations on a much deeper level.
“I know how to drag things out of him. He’s not an open book like Axel.”
Sometimes I wished he were an open book. Sometimes I wished I knew what he felt when he felt it. It seemed like I discovered stuff after the fact, when he couldn’t keep it in any longer. “Can I tell you something in confidence?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t want Theo to know about it.”
“I promise I won’t tell him.”
“Or Axel,” I said.
“He’s the last person I would tell because he’d run straight to Theo like a schoolgirl.” She grabbed another piece of bread and slathered it with butter. “Come on, girl. I’ll protect your secrets like a priest in a confessional.”
It had been a whirlwind since the moment I’d met him. Since the moment I’d first had him. It’d been up and down with lots of bumps in between, but now the road was finally smooth and everything I’d repressed had come out in full force. “I’m falling so hard for him.” It felt good to get it off my chest, to say it to someone since I couldn’t say it to him. “He said he was willing to try to have something with me, and I’m over here head over fucking heels.”
“You don’t want him to know?”
“He’s smart,” I said. “I’m sure he senses it.”
“But you’re afraid to tell him.”
“I’m afraid to tell him and scare him off.”
“Well…” She took a bite of her bread and swallowed it down before she continued. “In case you haven’t noticed, he’s dealing with your crazy ex and still hasn’t given up, so I don’t think you can scare him off.”
A smile moved on to my lips, but it was a painful one, an insincere one. “Sometimes I wonder if he just feels obligated to help me.”
“Why would he feel obligated?”
“Because he’s all I have. If he walks away, I’m done.” I had no defense against Bolton. He was stronger and smarter, and I had nothing. As long as he wanted to keep me as a prisoner, there was nothing I could do to stop him. “I’m sure Theo knows that.”
“He could send you away. Give you a new identity and some money to start over. I think he’s here because he cares for you more than he shows. That man has a lot of demons, but I don’t think those demons are enough to keep him away from you.”
I stared at the bread on my plate and fidgeted with it, buoyed by her words but also swallowed by them.
“Don’t be afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve,” she said. “Because I think that’s exactly what Theo needs.”
“Yeah…maybe.” I tore off a piece of the bread but left it on the plate before I looked at her again. “I feel so stupid for choosing Bolton when I had Theo there…wanting me.” It was my greatest mistake. An unforgivable one.
“You’re being way too hard on yourself, babe.”
“Really? As Theo’s friend, I assumed you would feel differently.”
“But I’m his married friend,” she said. “Unmarried people think marriage is just a piece of paper, but once you’re in a marriage, you realize it’s so much more. You share the same last name. You become family. I don’t fault you for trying to make that marriage work. It’s not like you knew Bolton was a psychopath at the time.”
“I know, but…” I had more stored inside my chest, but it didn’t come free. “Theo said we would have ended up in this predicament, no matter what I decided.”
“And he’s right,” she said with a nod. “It must be so frustrating that Bolton started all this when he asked for an open marriage, but he refuses to accept the consequences of that decision. You fell for someone else. He shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I think he expected me to stay loyal, honestly.” And I almost did because I felt so guilty about it. Felt guilty leaving my wedding ring at home. Felt horrible for wanting another man in my bed besides my husband. But in the end, I had no reason to feel bad whatsoever.
“Arrogant prick.” She took another bite of her bread.
“Did Theo ask you to do this?”
“Do what?” she asked.
“You know, take me out…get me out of the house.”
“No.” Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at me, genuinely confused. “I asked you out because you’re a hot piece of ass that I wanted to go shopping with.”
A smile melted over my mouth. “That’s really nice of you.”